Roberto Clemente Award

Roberto Clemente Award
The Roberto Clemente Award
Presented by	Major League Baseball
Country	United States
First awarded	1971
Currently held by	David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox

The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) player who "best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team", as voted on by baseball fans and members of the media. It is named for Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente. Originally known as the Commissioner's Award, it has been presented by the MLB since 1971. In 1973, the award was renamed after Clemente following his death in a plane crash while delivering supplies to victims of the Nicaragua earthquake.

Each year, a panel of baseball dignitaries selects 1 player from 30 nominees, one from each club. Teams choose their nominee during the regular season, and the winner is announced at the World Series. The player who receives the most votes online via MLB's official website, MLB.com, gets one vote in addition to the votes cast by the panel. Since 2007, the Roberto Clemente Award has been presented by Chevy. Chevy donates money and a Chevy vehicle to the national winner's charity of choice and additional money is donated by Chevy to the Roberto Clemente Sports City, a non-profit organization in Carolina, Puerto Rico, designed to provide recreational sports activities for children. Additionally, Chevy donates money to the charity of choice of each of the 30 Club recipients.

The first winner of the award was Willie Mays, and the most recent winner was David Ortiz. None of the winners have received the award more than once, so far. The first pitcher to win the award was Phil Niekro in 1980, and the first catcher to win the award was Gary Carter in 1989.

Key

†	Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame

Winners

Year	Player	Team	League	Position
1971	Mays, WillieWillie Mays †	San Francisco Giants	National	Outfielder
1972	Robinson, BrooksBrooks Robinson †	Baltimore Orioles	American	Third baseman
1973	Kaline, AlAl Kaline †	Detroit Tigers	American	Outfielder
1974	Stargell, WillieWillie Stargell †	Pittsburgh Pirates	National	Outfielder
1975	Brock, LouLou Brock †	St. Louis Cardinals	National	Outfielder
1976	Rose, PetePete Rose	Cincinnati Reds	National	Third baseman
1977	Carew, RodRod Carew †	Minnesota Twins	American	First baseman
1978	Luzinski, GregGreg Luzinski	Philadelphia Phillies	National	Outfielder
1979	Thornton, AndreAndre Thornton	Cleveland Indians	American	First baseman
1980	Niekro, PhilPhil Niekro †	Atlanta Braves	National	Pitcher
1981	Garvey, SteveSteve Garvey	Los Angeles Dodgers	National	First baseman
1982	Singleton, KenKen Singleton	Baltimore Orioles	American	Designated hitter
1983	Cooper, CecilCecil Cooper	Milwaukee Brewers	American	First baseman
1984	Guidry, RonRon Guidry	New York Yankees	American	Pitcher
1985	Baylor, DonDon Baylor	New York Yankees	American	Designated hitter
1986	Maddox, GarryGarry Maddox	Philadelphia Phillies	National	Outfielder
1987	Sutcliffe, RickRick Sutcliffe	Chicago Cubs	National	Pitcher
1988	Murphy, DaleDale Murphy	Atlanta Braves	National	Outfielder
1989	Carter, GaryGary Carter †	New York Mets	National	Catcher
1990	Stewart, DaveDave Stewart	Oakland Athletics	American	Pitcher
1991	Reynolds, HaroldHarold Reynolds	Seattle Mariners	American	Second baseman
1992	Ripken Jr., CalCal Ripken Jr. †	Baltimore Orioles	American	Shortstop
1993	Larkin, BarryBarry Larkin †	Cincinnati Reds	National	Shortstop
1994	Winfield, DaveDave Winfield †	Minnesota Twins	American	Designated hitter
1995	Smith, OzzieOzzie Smith †	St. Louis Cardinals	National	Shortstop
1996	Puckett, KirbyKirby Puckett †	Minnesota Twins	American	Outfielder
1997	Davis, EricEric Davis	Baltimore Orioles	American	Outfielder
1998	Sosa, SammySammy Sosa	Chicago Cubs	National	Outfielder
1999	Gwynn, TonyTony Gwynn †	San Diego Padres	National	Outfielder
2000	Leiter, AlAl Leiter	New York Mets	National	Pitcher
2001	Schilling, CurtCurt Schilling	Arizona Diamondbacks	National	Pitcher
2002	Thome, JimJim Thome	Cleveland Indians	American	First baseman
2003	Moyer, JamieJamie Moyer	Seattle Mariners	American	Pitcher
2004	Martínez, EdgarEdgar Martínez	Seattle Mariners	American	Designated hitter
2005	Smoltz, JohnJohn Smoltz	Atlanta Braves	National	Pitcher
2006	Delgado, CarlosCarlos Delgado	New York Mets	National	First baseman
2007	Biggio, CraigCraig Biggio	Houston Astros	National	Second baseman
2008	Pujols, AlbertAlbert Pujols	St. Louis Cardinals	National	First baseman
2009	Jeter, DerekDerek Jeter	New York Yankees	American	Shortstop
2010	Wakefield, TimTim Wakefield	Boston Red Sox	American	Pitcher
2011	Ortiz, DavidDavid Ortiz	Boston Red Sox	American	Designated Hitter

See also

• Players Choice Awards (The Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award)
• Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
• Branch Rickey Award
• Bart Giamatti Award
• Baseball awards
• Golden Spirit Award (similar Japanese awards)

References

General

• "Roberto Clemente Award". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/community/clemente.jsp#about. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 
• "Roberto Clemente Award winners". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/awards/mlb_awards_content.jsp?content=roberto_clemente_history. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 
• "The Hutch Award, Lou Gehrig Award, Babe Ruth Award & Roberto Clemente Award Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hutch_gehrig_ruth_clemente.shtml. Retrieved 2009-05-24. 
• "Roberto Clemente Award Winners". ESPN Internet Ventures. ESPN Internet Ventures. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=3663948. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 

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